CBS gets sweeps boost with strong Thursday
  Through the first week of May sweeps, CBS is in third place behind Fox and ABC among viewers 18-49. That could change after its performance last night. According to Nielsen overnights, CBS’s “CSI” was the night’s highest-rated show in the demo with an 8.8 average, and the network finished first for the night with a 7.0 average rating and a 19 share. NBC finished second at 5.3/15, Fox third at 3.2/9, ABC fourth at 2.1/6, UPN fifth at 1.7/5 and the WB sixth at 1.3/4.
   CBS took the first two hours of the night, starting with a 6.8 average at 8 p.m. for “Survivor: Palau.” NBC was second that hour with a 3.2 average for “Joey” (3.0) and “Will & Grace” (3.3) and Fox third with a 3.0 average for the first of back-to-back original episodes of “The O.C.”
   CBS led again at 9 p.m., this time with its 8.8 average for “CSI.” NBC was second with a 5.7 average for “The Apprentice” and Fox third with a 3.4 for the second episode of “O.C.”
   NBC jumped into the lead at 10 p.m. with a 7.0 average for “ER.” CBS was second with a 5.3 for “Without a Trace” and ABC third with a 2.2 for “Primetime Live.”
   Among households, CBS finished first with a 13.3 rating and a 21 share. NBC was second at 8.2/13, ABC third at 5.3/9, Fox fourth at 4.7/7, UPN fifth at 3.0/5 and the WB sixth at 1.9/3.

Fizzle for ABC's 'Fallen Idol' expose Wednesday
  Since ABC News said last week it had potentially show-killing allegations against Fox’s “American Idol,” the media and the internet had been abuzz. But apparently regular folk were a whole lot less interested in the revelations.
   Wednesday night’s “Fallen Idol” special edition of “Primetime Live,” focusing on former “Idol” contestant Corey Clark and his alleged affair with judge Paula Abdul, delivered merely decent viewership, and disappointing numbers considering how much hype there’d been over the sweeps stunt.
   The special averaged 13.8 million total viewers, according to Nielsen overnights. By comparison, during the February sweeps ABC pulled almost 20 million for a “Happy Days” reunion stunt that got half the publicity. For a stunt with so much hype, 15 million would have been a more respectable turnout.
   The buzz didn’t do anything in terms of boosting “Idol’s” viewership, either. The Wednesday night results show, which saw Scott Savol get eliminated, averaged about 24.5 million viewers, down 2.8 percent from the 25.2 million the results show had averaged previously this season.
   “American Idol” was the night’s highest-rated show among 18-49s with a 10.4, right on its season average, and Fox finished first for the night in the demo with a 5.6 average rating and a 15 share. ABC was a close second at 5.3/14, CBS third at 3.2/8, NBC fourth at 3.0/8, UPN fifth at 1.7/5 and the WB sixth at 1.3/4.
   ABC led at 8 p.m. with a 6.0 average for “Lost.” Fox was second with a 3.4 average for an hour of “That ‘70s Show” and UPN third with a 2.2 for “America’s Next Top Model.”
   Fox took the lead during the 9 p.m. hour with a 7.8 average for “Idol” (10.4) and a repeat of “Stacked” (5.2). ABC was second with a 3.7 average for “Alias” and NBC third with a 3.4 for “Revelations.”
   ABC regained the lead at 10 p.m. with its 6.1 for “Primetime.” CBS was second with a 4.3 for “CSI: NY” and NBC third with a 3.6 for “Law & Order.”
   ABC finished first for the night among households, averaging an 8.4 rating and a 14 share. Fox was second at 8.1/13, CBS third at 7.3/12, NBC fourth at 6.3/10, UPN fifth at 2.7/4 and the WB sixth at 2.2/4.

One week into sweeps, it's Fox with a big fat lead
Good thing CBS has its schedule backloaded with lots of sweeps specials, like the “Elvis” miniseries, a country music awards show and “Survivor” finale, because thus far, it has not gotten off to a promising sweeps start. It currently sits in third place for the sweep period among 18-49s with a 3.8 rating through Wednesday night. The early leader in the demo is Fox, which has averaged a 4.3 rating through seven days of sweeps, an 8 percent increase over last year. The network was helped, and more importantly not hurt, by Sunday’s return of “Family Guy,” which averaged a 5.8 rating. ABC has seen the largest year-to-year growth, up 39 percent versus May 2004 and in second place with a 3.9 average. The network was helped by a 5.3 average on Wednesday night, not bad for a non-Fox network on an “American Idol” night, driven by “Lost” and the “Fallen Idol” exposé on “Primetime Live.” NBC is the only Big Four network down versus last year. It is currently in fourth with a 3.4 average, down 36 percent from a year ago. For the first week of sweeps the WB stands in fifth place among 18-49s with a 1.5 average, off 6 percent versus last year, and UPN sixth with a 1.4 average, a 27 percent year-to-year increase.

USA Today scribe quits after copycat accusation
We all learned in kindergarten that it’s not good to be a copycat, but apparently reporters at the nation’s biggest newspaper skipped that lesson. A year after the Jack Kelley scandal, USA Today reporter Tom Squitieri has resigned after allegedly lifting passages for a story on armored Humvees from a piece that ran in the Indianapolis Star last year. Editors said that Squitieri’s March 28 article included verbatim passages from a May 7, 2004, article in the Star that quoted a senator and a man whose son died in Iraq. The Star, like USA Today, is a Gannett paper. Squitieri apologized but said through his attorney that he’d gotten permission from the men quoted to use their quotes again in his piece. The attorney told the Associated Press Squitieri did not think he had made a mistake. A review of Squitieri’s work found several other problems in stories that had not been printed yet. Last year Kelley resigned after editors found evidence of plagiarism going back 13 years. Squitieri had been with USA Today since 1989.

CBS: We're joining this summer's reality parade
Yet more reality for the summer schedule, this time courtesy CBS. On June 7 at 9 p.m. the network will launch “Fire Me … Please,” a show where contestants try to get fired before a 3 p.m. deadline. Two days later at 8 p.m. the network will debut “The Cut,” a fashion competition show hosted by Tommy Hilfiger. Then about a month later, on July 7, CBS will return “Big Brother” to the air, again on three nights a week: Tuesdays at 9 p.m. and Thursdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Lastly, on July 11 at 9 p.m., the network will roll out “Rock Star: INXS,” kind of a rock version of “American Idol,” from producer Mark Burnett. The show will mark Burnett’s first CBS effort since “Survivor” and will also be on three nights a week: Mondays at 9:30 p.m., Tuesdays at 10 p.m. and Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. In other programming news, ABC has removed the new drama “Eyes” from the schedule for May sweeps, replacing it next week with an episode of “Supernanny.” Twelve local TV stations in Canada, collectively called CHUM Television, have made a deal with the NFL to air “Monday Night Football” next season, starting with the Thursday night season kickoff game between the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots. And today the gay/lesbian-focused here! network will launch “here! News,” a news show targeted at the gay community.

Pondering Chappelle's sudden & mysterious exit 
When there’s little information to be confirmed, count on the media to either dig or make something up. Comedy Central hasn’t commented beyond Wednesday’s statement that production of “Chappelle’s Show” had stopped, so yesterday the rumors began to surface. The first was that Dave Chappelle has writer’s block, forcing the show to postpone its season three premiere, which had been scheduled for May 31. Then Variety reported yesterday that Chappelle was in treatment for what the publication called “unspecified personal issues.” Those unspecified personal issues apparently do not include drugs, according to Chappelle’s publicist. A story in today’s New York Times quotes Chappelle publicist Matt Labov denying that drug use had anything to do with the show’s delay, saying the star’s not in rehab and doesn’t’ have a cocaine addiction. Of course he didn’t say anything else, leaving room for further speculation. Other rumors: Comedy Central is trying to goose Chappelle into producing something after months of filming, no finished product and two previous premiere delays. The network, which gave him a rumored $50 million contract last summer, really wants him to return. “Chappelle’s” second season averaged 3.1 million viewers last year, and the first season’s DVD is the best-selling TV series DVD ever.

Rumor du jour: Fox's '24' may be heading to NBC
Is Fox’s “24” headed for NBC? The New York Post reported this morning that the struggling network is interested in Twentieth Television’s Kiefer Sutherland drama, whose four-year deal is up after May 23’s season finale. The Post story quotes an anonymous source that says NBC has expressed its interest in “24.” This season the show has averaged a shade under 12 million viewers an episode, its best season ever. The odds still remain Fox will keep the series, despite an expected increase in its licensing fee, but if it does make the switch it wouldn’t be the first show to do so: “Grounded For Life” aired on Fox for two seasons before it jumped to the WB in February 2003, and “JAG” aired its first season on NBC before moving to CBS for its final nine seasons.